1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improved anti-CD154 (CD40L) antibodies having reduced toxicity and their use in immune therapies, especially treatment of inflammatory disorders, allergy, autoimmunity, transplant, and cancers. In particular the invention provides anti-CD154 antibodies that are modified such that they do not elicit thrombogenic or clotting reactions in vivo, but which still retain desired therapeutic properties such as the induction of immune tolerance and the blockade of humoral immunity.
2. Description of Related Art
CD40L (CD154) is a highly validated and valuable therapeutic target in
autoimmunity, graft rejection and other immune-related diseases in mice, non-human primates (NHP) and humans. In numerous Phase II Clinical Trials, α-CD154 has been shown to effectively block the activities of CD154 in vivo and ameliorate disease. αCD154 is distinct from all other therapeutics in its impact on the immune response; it is one of the only therapeutics that can induce functional immunological tolerance, as demonstrated both in mice and monkeys. In mice, virtually all autoimmune disease models can be effectively ameliorated with αCD154 therapy (Noelle, R. J., Mackey, M., Foy, T., Buhlmann, J. and Burns, C, CD40 and its ligand in autoimmunity. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1997. 815: 384-391; Mackey, M. F., Barth, R. J., Jr. and Noelle, R. J., The role of CD40/CD154 interactions in the priming, differentiation, and effector function of helper and cytotoxic T cells. J Leukoc Biol 1998. 63: 418-428; Noelle, R. J., CD40 and its ligand in cell-mediated immunity. Agents Actions Suppl 1998. 49: 17-22; and Quezada, S. A., Jarvinen, L. Z., Lind, E. F. and Noelle, R. J., CD40/CD154 Interactions at the Interface of Tolerance and Immunity. Annu Rev Immunol 2004. 22: 307-328), with long-term remission observed.
In NHP, permanent allograft tolerance can be achieved using short
courses of treatments comprised of αCD154 (Kenyon, N. S., Chatzipetrou, M., Masetti, M., Ranuncoli, A., Oliveira, M., Wagner, J. L., Kirk, A. D., Harlan, D. M., Burkly, L. C. and Ricordi, C, Long-term survival and function of intrahepatic islet allografts in rhesus monkeys treated with humanized anti-CD154. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1999. 96: 8132-8137; Kirk, A. D., Burkly, L. C, Batty, D. S., Baumgartner, R. E., Berning, J. D., Buchanan, K., Fechner, J. H., Jr., Germond, R. L., Kampen, R. L., Patterson, N. B., Swanson, S. J., Tadaki, D. K., TenHoor, C. N., White, L., Knechtle, S. J. and Harlan, D. M., Treatment with humanized monoclonal antibody against CD154 prevents acute renal allograft rejection in nonhuman primates. Nat Med 1999. 5: 686-693).
Also, Phase II Clinical Trials in humans have indicated that αCD154 is effective in SLE (Sidiropoulos, P. I. and Boumpas, D. T., Lessons learned from anti-CD154 treatment in systemic lupus erythematosus patients. Lupus 2004. 13: 391-397), Multiple Sclerosis (see preliminary data) and idiopathic thrombocytopenia (Sidiropoulos, P. I. and Boumpas, D. T., Lessons learned from anti-CD154 treatment in systemic lupus erythematosus patients. Lupus 2004. 13: 391-39). As such, αCD154 is a unique drug that will allow for short-term intervention with long-term clinical benefit. Its failures have not been in efficacy, but due to an unanticipated toxicity.
Further, in the early 1990's IDEC Pharmaceuticals and Biogen Inc. (now Biogen Idee) launched two different αCD154 mAbs into multiple Phase I/II Clinical Trials. The antibody developed by IDEC (IDEC-131) was derived from a murine anti-hCD154 developed at Dartmouth College.
This antibody and humanized variants are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,440,418 the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. While early indications demonstrated that the drug was highly effective, toxicity of the αCD154 prohibited continued clinical development. In the trials, the observed toxicity included the induction of thromboembolic events in patients. Based on toxicity concerns, all trials were suspended and efforts were directed towards re-engineering the mAbs to sustain efficacy and reduce toxicity. While reduced toxicity has been achieved, there has been a substantial decrease in efficacy and the tolerance-inducing capacity of αCD154 mAbs (Ferrant, J. L., Benjamin, C. D., Cutler, A. H., Kalled, S. L., Hsu, Y. M., Garber, E. A., Hess, D. M., Shapiro, R. I., Kenyon, N. S., Harlan, D. M., Kirk, A. D., Burkly, L. C. and Taylor, F. R., The contribution of Fc effector mechanisms in the efficacy of anti-CD154 immunotherapy depends on the nature of the immune challenge. Int Immunol 2004. 16: 1583-1594). None of the engineered mAb forms have progressed significantly into the clinic due to loss in efficacy.
Recently, Biogen-Idec and UCB entered into a collaboration relating to the study of anti-CD40L antibodies. This study relates to a Pegylated Fab of an αCD154.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, there is still a significant need in the art for improved anti-CD154 antibodies, i.e., those which are both safe and effective. This invention attains these goals.